1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of pumps, and more specifically, to pumps wherein the pump is actuated by a reciprocating motion and in which flowable material is pumped without relative motion occurring between structural elements that are within the pump.
2. Description of the Related Art:
The art provides various showings of flexible tube and flexible diaphragm pumps. Representative are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,888,877, 3,733,149, 3,955,901, 4,344,743, 4,974,674, and 5,281,108. While devices such as shown in these patents have been generally satisfactory for their limited intended purposes, the need remains in the art for a simple and reliable pump that includes a minimum number of parts and that operates by virtue of a simple oscillatory or reciprocating motion.
This invention makes use of one or more shallow bistable domes that are formed in a strip of a metal, such as hardened stainless steel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,458 by the present inventor, and entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SENSING SURFACE FLEXURE, is incorporated herein by reference. The apparatus/method of this patent makes use of a generally similar strip of metal in a flexible circuitry laminate to form a paper thin sensor of flexible on/off switches.